Trichogramma

Trichogramma Egg Wasps -Trichogramma sp.

minutum - For ornamentals, orchards, grapes and trees where the protective zone is five feet or more above ground level.

platneri - For avocados, ornamentals, orchards and grapes.

brassicae - For use on vegetable, orchards, gardens and field crops

pretiosum- Best in vegetable gardens where the protective zone is five feet or less above ground level.

Trichogramma wasps are tiny parasites that attack the eggs of over 200 species of moths and caterpillars. They are extremely small - 4 or 5 will fit on the head of a pin. Trichogramma lays its eggs inside the eggs of moths preventing the moth egg from hatching into a caterpillar. This prevents the damage caused by the feeding caterpillars, and also breaks the life cycle of the pest, effectively preventing the pest from reproducing. In some species of moth up to 5 parasite eggs may be laid in each moth egg. As the parasite develops within the egg, it turns black, and after about 10 days, an adult Trichogramma emerges. Adult Trichogramma can live up to 14 days after emergence.

T. brassicae - for use on vegetable, orchards, gardens and field crops. Adult wasps are yellow or yellow and black with bright red eyes, short antennae, and compact bodies. They look like gnats. A small hole in the host egg is visible if the wasps have emerged. Biology and life cycle: Females lay one or more eggs in the egg of a host insect. The larvae pupate inside the host egg, and adult wasps emerge seven to ten days after the egg is laid. Over fifty wasps can emerge from one egg. In warm weather many generations can be produced. Hosts include corn, cotton, cabbage, peas, tomatoes, soybeans, rice, citrus, ornamental plants, pecans, and forests.

Trichogramma brassicae, minutum and platneri mixed all on one card- Trichogramma are among the smallest insects, having a wingspread of about 1/50th of an inch. Despite its size, this parasitic wasp is an efficient destroyer of the eggs of more than 200 species of moths and butterflies which are leaf eaters in the larval stage.

Trichogramma platneri - A native of western U.S. is recommended for western trees, avocados, ornamentals, orchards, and grapes. For western apple, pear, walnut growers as well as other Lepidoteran pests in the orchard. Adult wasps are yellow or yellow and black with bright red eyes, short antennae, and compact bodies. They look like gnats. A small hole in the host egg is visible if the wasps have emerged. Biology and life cycle: Females lay one or more eggs in the egg of a host insect. The larvae pupate inside the host egg, and adult wasps emerge seven to ten days after the egg is laid. Over fifty wasps can emerge from one egg. In warm weather many generations can be produced. Hosts include corn, cotton, cabbage, peas, tomatoes, soybeans, rice, citrus, ornamental plants, pecans, and forests.

Nature is brutal, but very effective. Trichogramma wasps are probably the most widely released beneficial insect in the southwestern United States. It is used by smart growers of fruit, vegetables and ornamentals to control caterpillar and worm pests on their crops. The real beauty of this method of pest control is that the targeted pests can not develop a resistance to trichogramma like it could when a chemical pesticide is used.

Trichogramma eats the pests there's no defense against that. Chemicals are as toxic to you as they are to the pests, and often ineffective against the targeted pest due to resistance. Instead of coating the garden with toxic substances, it seems logical to this goddess to have trichogramma working round the clock. The bad guys don't stand a chance. When releasing trichogramma into your garden, it is good to wait until the first signs of a caterpillar or worm doing their business. This will ensure that you have a food source for the wasps when they are released. Releasing trichogramma is very simple. When you purchase the insects, they come to you as parasitized moth eggs. You just hang the little strips on a branch in the vicinity of your caterpillar problem and forget about it. Trichogramma is on the job! The wasp larvae kill pests before they damage plants by consuming their eggs. They are shipped while still parasitized in the host egg. You receive what looks like a small piece of sandpaper that has been inoculated with approximately 5,000 eggs. Trichogramma wasps protect plants throughout the growing season. In general, regular releases of Trichogramma ensures generations of mated females ready to attack moth eggs, and improves levels of control. Releases should be started when moths are first detected. Although the Trichogramma is minute, it can seasrch for moth eggs over considerable distances. 12,000 Trichogramma will treat up to 500 sq. ft. For orchards, field crops, etc. use 40,000 - 200,000 per acre on a weekly basis for 2-6 weeks during peak seasons. Release at peak egg laying, when adult moths are seen flying. Visual inspection are necessary for maximum effectiveness. Choose the species that suits your needs. Availability year-round.

Description: To describe Trichogramma wasps with one word: tiny. These wasps are one of the smallest insects on the planet. One closely related genus, Megaphragma, is only 0.18 mm in length as a fully-grown adult. To put this in perspective, that is the size of some bacteria! Even though they are small, they still look like wasps, miniature yellow jackets. Trichogramma wasps have constricted abdomens, short antennae and raspberry colored eyes with few facets. As with all wasps, Trichogramma wasps have two pairs of wings and an ovipositor (stinger) on the females. The wings are unusual because they are short stalks with long fringes of hair, instead of the typical membranous wing. Since these critters are so small, not much is known to describe the eggs, larvae or pupae.

Life History: You might be asking now, “Well, why are these things so small and why the heck are they my friends if I can’t even see them?” Trichogramma wasps are small because they are parasitoids of other insect eggs. Yes, there is actually a wasp out there that fully develops to adulthood inside a thrips egg. Basically, here is a snapshot of the life of a Trichogramma wasp. Adult wasps search for a host egg by smell. Most cues to find the host are found by odors emitted by the actual host egg. For example, for Trichogramma that parasitizes moth eggs, the adult wasps use odors from moth scales accidentally knocked off while the moth was laying the eggs. Once the female has found a host egg, she probes it with her ovipositor to determine a few things. She decides that it is an acceptable host only if the host egg is fresh, healthy, and not parasitized by another wasp. If the egg is suitable, she deposits her own egg inside that of the developing host egg. The wasp larva hatches and begins to consume the egg yolk and insect embryo. After the egg is consumed and the wasp completes its larval development, the larva pupates. Many times when the larvae of Trichogramma wasps pupate, they cause the insect egg that they are living in to change in color. In the case of Trichogramma that parasitize moth eggs, the moth egg usually changes to a dark metallic blue. Once the pupal stage is completed, the new adult chews a hole through the egg and emerges. When the adult is out, they immediately smell and inspect the egg that they came from. This is how they find out what kind of cues or odors they should be looking for to find the next host egg.

Beneficial Features: Trichogrammatids have been used in agriculture for many years to control insect pests. Once they find an area where there are host eggs, they are very good at parasitizing most of them. A tree right here in Bellingham, was infected severely with the cherry bark tortrix. I observed that once Trichogramma wasps learned that there were a lot of good eggs to eat on that tree, they parasitized 98% of the eggs by the end of the season! They are extremely prolific under laboratory conditions and fairly easy to produce in large quantities. In fact, the WSU and United States Department of Agriculture have produced and released 200,000 Trichogramma wasps in North Western Washington to manage the cherry bark tortrix.

Recruitment: If you have these guys working in your yard and gardens, you are blessed with one the most unique (and common) beneficial insects out there. To keep them in your yard, reduce pesticide usage if you can. Also since these wasps are so small, provide very small flowers as a nectar source. Although, I am not sure that the adult wasps even eat nectar, it cannot hurt to have these small flowers in your garden during this transition to fall. Many other beneficial insects will appreciate it too. Mostly populations build in the late season (like now) but it is important to have a population ready to go in early spring for them to impact the pest populations. Get your hand lens out and scout around.